Selling property in today’s fast-paced real estate market is challenging. Selling a vacant lot is even harder. While a house can sell in a month or two if priced competitively, vacant land can take 6 to 18-months to locate the right buyer. Very few people are willing to build a house from the ground-up.
Here’s a collection of some of our favorite “Do’s and Don’ts” for selling an empty lot.
What You Need to Do
Look Up Zoning
Zoning is a legislative process that divides privately-owned urban areas into different zones (such as residential, commercial, industrial) according to the specified land use. Zoning code determines what can be built and the corresponding specifications.
You can’t sell an empty piece of land if you don’t know what the land is. Vacant land’s value is determined by the “possible uses” – and the possible uses are regulated by the local zoning code. You can check zoning for every major city on Municode.
Keep in mind, however, the zoning code is not written in stone. In many cases, municipalities are open to allowing you to build a non-conforming structure (i.e. a “variance” from the code).
Understand Your Buyer
It’s worth understanding who the prospective buyer of your land is. A wrong buyer can waste a lot of your time.
One thing to consider is whether selling to a developer or builder. ‘Development’ means taking the raw land and preparing it for new construction. ‘Building’ is erecting the structure.
You also want to make sure the buyer understands the land specifications. If the buyer wants your land for a residential building, but the zoning is commercial, you may be dealing with an amateur buyer who likely will back out before actually closing.
Resolve & Pay Fines
Vacant land is often left unsupervised, since nobody is living on the property. The land owners often live quite far away and are simply unable to walk the land on a regular basis. For this reason, there are often outstanding city violations for high grass, broken/unsafe structures. Rather than having these violations pop-up on the title search at the end of the sale, resolve and pay them up.
What You DON’T Need To DO
Pay 6% Realtor Commission
Although a realtor can add value, paying thousands of dollars isn’t necessary if you are capable of managing the sale yourself. If you have the time and energy to devote to the sale, able to familiarize yourself with real estate procedures and contracts, and can deal with prospective buyers, you should have no problem selling your vacant land without a realtor.
Trying to Save on Land Survey
Consider a land survey before selling vacant land. This can resolve border disputes and set the right price for the land for only a few hundred dollars.
Land surveys are a graphic depiction of a property outlining the legal boundaries. A good survey lays out the exact dimensions of a property, which includes a description or map of your property line.
The cost of hiring a professional surveyor varies widely not only by locality, but also by dozens of project-specific details. The average land survey cost is $504. This includes the price to hire a land surveyor, which ranges from $338 and $670. The total depends on the property’s history, size, location and more.